In August
2006, the United Nations adopted the first global human rights treaty addressing
the subject of disability, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with
Disabilities.While this is a
critical and historic step forward for the global disability movement, the
adoption of a UN convention alone will not ensure that the human rights of
persons with disabilities will be respected and protected. Disability
organizations, disability advocates and community leaders must launch and
sustain a major educational and advocacy initiative in order to ensure that the
rights in the convention are known to all and that governments fulfill their
legal responsibilities. History has shown that the effectiveness of such
conventions is directly related to the capacity of civil society to promote
their implementation and monitor governments’ performance in enforcing them.

Human
Rights, YES!
is a new human rights education tool, based on the UN Convention on the Rights
of Persons with Disabilities. The tool was developed to equip persons with
disabilities and their representative organizations to integrate a comprehensive
human rights approach in their advocacy work.The training in Human Rights, YES!
is designed to enhance organizations’ advocacy at the national and community
levels as well as to promote individual empowerment and self-advocacy
initiatives.Human Rights. YES is also an
essential resource for other human rights groups, such as women’s rights and
children’s rights organizations, that want to understand disability rights and
integrate a disability perspective into their human rights efforts.

While the UN
has long encouraged the development and dissemination of disability rights
education materials, such efforts are rare due to lack of attention to
disability from large human rights groups and the historic de-prioritization of
disability among mainstream funders of human rights initiatives.At this crucial time in the history of international disability rights, a
pioneering initiative is required to address the urgent need for disability and
human rights education resources.

With the
generous support of the Shafallah Center, the
Human Rights. YES! project team was
finally able to pursue the vision to produce the core curriculum on disability
that is missing from the global body of human rights education materials.It is our hope that Human Rights.
YES! will serve as a major resource for building the human rights and
advocacy capacity of disability rights advocates and their allies worldwide.
Together we can work to ensure that the human rights enshrined in the UN
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are fully realized and
integrated as part of the legal, political, social and cultural fabric of all
societies.